Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization will grow at least 3 percent this year, excluding
results from the utility’s Italian Edison unit, EDF said today
in a statement. It previously expected Ebitda to hold steady or
rise no more than 3 percent.

Profit by that measure climbed 6.9 percent in the first
half to 9.7 billion euros ($12.9 billion) after a cold winter
boosted demand and hydropower output rose. That beat the 9.24
billion-euro median estimate of five analysts surveyed by
Bloomberg. Net income advanced 4.3 percent to 2.9 billion euros.

The earnings are “excellent,” Julien Desmaretz, an
analyst at Bryan, Garnier & Co., wrote in a note. EDF will
benefit from higher French tariffs in the second half, he said.

France’s government has granted EDF tariff increases at
home, where it operates 58 nuclear reactors. Energy Minister
Philippe Martin authorized EDF to raise the regulated domestic
power rate by 5 percent on Aug. 1 and by a further 5 percent a
year later. While more than double last year’s 2 percent
increase, it’s less than the regulator’s recommendation of 6.8
percent to 9.6 percent this year to cover a shortfall in costs.

Favorable Arbitration

“The first half-year 2013 was marked by good operating
performance,” Chief Executive Officer Henri Proglio said in the
statement. Growth was driven by cold weather in France, which
bolstered market prices, and a 25 percent jump in hydro output.
EDF also reported a “favorable outcome” of arbitration over
gas contracts in Algeria with supplier Sonatrach.

The Paris-based company today kept a target for French
atomic output this year of 410 terawatt-hours to 415 terawatt-hours after a 2012 decline to 405 terawatt-hours.

The utility expects a decision on whether to push ahead
with new nuclear reactors in the U.K. before the end of the
year, Proglio said at a presentation of the results. He also
announced a deal to allow the sale of U.S. nuclear assets.

EDF has agreed with Chicago-based Exelon Corp. on an option
to sell its 49.99 percent stake in CENG, the operator of five
nuclear plants in the U.S., from January 2016 to June 2022, it
said. EDF will also get an exceptional dividend of $400 million
from CENG.

Debt Falls

The French utility reiterated a plan to save 1 billion
euros and said net investments will be 12 billion euros to 12.5
billion euros in 2013. Debt shrank to 33.7 billion euros at the
end of June from 39.2 billion euros in December, it said.

EDF faces billions of euros of costs to improve safety at
its French reactors after the authorities tightened rules
following the 2011 meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima plant. French
President Francois Hollande has vowed to lower dependence on
atomic energy and shut EDF’s oldest reactor in 2016. The
utility’s reactors supply three-quarters of France’s power
output, making it the world’s most nuclear-dependent country.

Proglio today reiterated that spending on safety and
extending the lives of French atomic plants is estimated at 55
billion euros through 2025.